Providing legal defense of Native Americans in Tribal Courts, and working to reduce the need for our services.

Tribal Public Defense

Representing Low-Income Native Clients

Resources for Persons Charged with Crimes or Delinquency Actions

Ron Whitener, President of CIRJ, created the Tribal Court Public Defense Clinic at the University of Washington Law School in 2002 with funding from the Tulalip Tribes of Washington State. This clinical program provided criminal defense of low-income Native American clients charged with crimes at the Tulalip Tribes, using second and third-year law students. Ron was announced as the 2009 winner of the Shanara Gilbert Award for outstanding contributions to clinical legal education.

Over the next 10 years, the Tribal Court Public Defense Clinic was asked by several other tribes to provide similar services to them. In 2014, CIRJ was created to house the public defense services which were not directly related to the teaching component of the Tribal Court Public Defense Clinic. Today, CIRJ is the primary public defender at the Squaxin Island, Port Gamble S'Klallam and Skokomish Tribes, representing both juveniles and adults. CIRJ also provides conflict public defense at the Lummi Nation and Muckleshoot tribes. Finally, CIRJ also contracts with other public defense attorneys to provide representation of parents in child dependency cases at the Snoqualmie, Muckleshoot and Sauk-Suiattle Tribes.

If you would like to support our work, please donate. All funds will be used to provide legal assistance to low-income Native Americans who would otherwise go unrepresented.

If you have been charged with a crime or delinquency in a tribal courtor think you are at risk for being charged, please review our informational resources.